Arpoador

Between the long curves of sand that define the beaches of Copacabana and Ipanema is an outcropping of rocks called Arpoador. At the top, there is a panoramic view of the most popular beaches of Rio de Janeiro. Everything swirls around Arpoador. The weather from the rocks is always an event in itself. And the colors constantly shift towards that violet hour of twilight. Everyday, people from all parts of the city are drawn to Arpoador: to surf, to play on the beach, to fish off the rocks, to meditate and stare at the sea, and to photograph the setting sun. Most of these photographs were taken on Sundays. The transition from afternoon to evening on Sundays is different from other days at Arpoador. The passage of time seems suspended. There’s a special lingering on the rocks, a not-wanting-to-go-home kind of pause. This Sunday kind of feeling seems to bring out the melancholy and mortality inherent in all personal photography. With the Arpoador project, I wanted to trace this nostalgic shimmer of summer light, the ephemeral nature of beauty on the rocks, and the impulse to hold onto memories that compel people to photograph each other.